Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point

About this web log

This blog is intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

About the author

John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

Common sense considerations

The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

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Archive for the 'Coenzyme Q10' Category

During the annual meeting of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology, in Lisbon, Portugal, researchers at Copenhagen University Hospital, in Denmark, reported for the first time that the dietary supplement coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) cut in half the death rate of patients suffering from advanced heart failure. (more…)

CoQ10 and its activated form, ubiquinol, are popular supplements for treating or preventing a range of conditions including congestive heart failure, migraine headache, high blood pressure, and Parkinson’s disease — although none of the evidence is conclusive.

Their action on HMG-CoA lowers LDL cholesterol. But it also lowers coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) production in muscles where it’s needed to maintain muscle respiration and function.

Ms. Jessica Pomaikai Asherin at Pacific University, in Hillsboro, Oregon, reviewed the evidence for supplementing statin therapy with CoQ10 in order to lower the risk of stain-induced muscle pain and tenderness (myopathy). (more…)

Dr. Petra Kaufmann (not in the photo) at Columbia University Medical Center, in New York reports that high-dose coenzyme Q10 (coQ10) is not promising enough to warrant further study as a treatment for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrigâ€™s disease). (more…)

Myalgia (muscle pain or tenderness) is the most common side effect of taking statins to treat high cholesterol blood levels. It’s also the biggest reason to lower the dose or stop treatment with these important drugs.

There’s some support that the muscle-related side effects of statins could be due to a statin-induced deficiency in coenzyme Q10.

Anael L’Esperance-Nascimento (photo) is the little boy from Quebec whose parents refused a second round of chemotherapy for his brain and spinal cord tumors. Instead, Anael will be treated at the Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida.

The intent of this post is to review wheatgrass, “an integral part” of the Hippocrates treatment. (more…)

In 2002, the Parkinson Study Group reported that CoQ10 (coenzyme Q 10) slowed deterioration in patients with early Parkinson’s disease even though it failed to postpone the start of levodopa (Dopar) treatment.

Now, a study in patients with midstage Parkinson’s disease without changes on muscle function and control reports disappointing results. (more…)

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Worthy Quotes

Complementary and alternative medicine is “diagnosis, treatment and/or prevention, which complements mainstream medicine by contributing to a common whole, by satisfying a demand not met by orthodoxy or by diversifying the conceptual frameworks of medicine. Edzard Ernst, MD